Bearing construction with edge load relief



Aug 4, 1959 s. u. PATTON 2,898,165

BEARING CONSTRUCTION WITH EDGE LOAD RELIEF Original Filed July 2, 1952 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS United States Patent BEARING CONSTRUCTION WITH EDGE LOAD RELIEF Stewart U. Patton, Severna Park, Md.

Original application July 2, 1952, Serial No. 296,977. and this application June 28, 1956, Serial No.

2 Claims. (Cl. 308-239) (Granted under Title 35, US. Code (1952), see. 266) lubricant into a stave type bearing by relieving bearing pressure at the leading edge of the stave.

Numerous arrangements have been proposed and tried for the purpose of increasing the flow of lubricant into and through a bearing, including beveled edges of bearing staves or bearing half-cylinders, pressure feed systems for forcing lubricant into grooves within the bearing surface,

and like arrangements. However, it is found that prior systems do not permit adequate lubrication under conditions of high unit bearing load. An example of severe service requirements for which no satisfactory means has been available is in the strut bearings for propeller shafts whereof the ambient lubricant is the water in which the propeller shaft is immersed. Under such conditions it has been'found that no satisfactory lubrication with grease, oil or other similar lubricants is possible. Current practice employs rubber or plastic staves with water as lubricant rather than an oil film. It is well known that water makes a good lubricant only if it can be supplied in a continuous film.

Experience has'shown, furthermore, that conventional stave bearings must be relatively narrow so as to occupy a minor portion of the circumference of a journal bearing, thereby to provide more channels for the entry of water into the bearings. Rounding or beveling the edges of the staves has been found to provide some increase in the entry of water into the bearing, but satisfactory results are not achieved thereby. Furthermore, under many conditions of use, it is found that the bearing material must be of soft resilient elastomer material such, for example, as rubber, plastic or the like which are better able to 'main'tain bearing tightness than metal bearings under conditions of abrasive Wear. These materials may also wear down rapidly under heavy load, particularly when insufliciently lubricated. As a result a bearing stave, which at first makes only line contact with the rotating shaft supported thereby, is soon worn sufficiently that the contact with the shaft extends substantially throughout the surface of the stave. Therefore, a bearing stave which is provided with a surface making a low angle contact with the shaft so as to provide a thin lubricant wedge area to assure water entry into the bearing, soon develops a sharp Wiping edgetherealong at the leading edge of the stave in contact with the shaft. This circumstance of wear causes the water or other lubricant to be wiped clean from the shaft as the shaft rotates against the stave, the low angle wedge being eliminated and its effect destroyed.

Thereafter the stave bearing operates with insufiicieut lubricant.

Y is formed to compress to approximately the curvature of- 2,898,165 Patented Aug. 4, 1959 An additional reason for requiring a continuous lubricating film in a bearing is for some purposes of greater importance than the wear particularly with rubber and other soft elastomer faced bearings in that a high unit loading of the bearing surface, with insufficient lubricant, results in bearing squeal. This is highly objectionable particularly in naval service where it is necessary to maintain quiet operation of a vessel to prevent detection thereof by enemy listening devices. The squeal from such bearings may represent a principal noise output from the vessel. Nevertheless, bearings employing rubber or plastic surfaces have suflicient other desirable characteristics to substantially dictate their use. I

It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide means insuring the entry of adequate quantities of ambient lubricant between the bearing surfaces of a journal type hearing.

A further object is to provide means for maintaining conditions conducive to entry of ambient lubricant into a journal bearing after the bearing surface has become worn.

' A still further object is to provide pressure relief at the leading edge of a bearing stave whereby positive pressure of limited amount exists between bearing surfaces to facilitate entry of lubricant at the leading edge thereof.

A still further object is to provide additional means causing lubricant to enter a bearing of the pivoted or pressure equalizing type.

Yet another object is the provision in a resilient type bearing of additional resilience at the leading edge of a bearing section to provide forced entry of lubricant regardless of condition of wear of the bearing section.

7 Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the annexed drawings, which illustrate I to those of Fig. l and having additional means for relieving edge pressure.

' Referring to the drawings, wherein like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the severalviews, there is shown in Fig. 1 at 11 a journal bearing housing composed ordinarily of metal and usually cylindrical in shape. Mounted within the housing 111 are staves 12 each composed of a rubber face 17 and a metallic base 18. The metallic base is preferably of trapezoidal shape for locking purposes and the shaft contacting face the shaft when loaded. At the leading edge, or at both edges in case of rotation in either direction, there is pro vided ordinarily a bevel or radius 22 for the purpose of facilitating entry of lubricant into the bearing as the shaft rotates against the stave 12. It will be understood that when the bevel 22 is arcuate in shape and while still new,

a low angle wedge is formed between the shaft lying along surfaces 17 and the bevel 22. However, since some wear takes place a sharp edge is formed and the low angle Wedge is lost. When this occurs water or other lubricant will be wiped clean from the shaft as it rotates against surface 17, the sharp edge of the bevel 22 being particularly deleterious with lubricants of this consistency, such as water.

' In accordance with the present invention, means is provided for relieving the pressure at the leading edge,

curs which is ordinarily observed only at the edges since these portions are unsupported to the same degree as the interior portions. The rubber face material is of relatively firm rubber to support heavy loading andinsufiicient pressure relief is provided to prevententry'ofsui'ficient water to water lubricated bearing. The insert porti'on 23 provides an-increasedtendency for the rubber to relieve itself under pressure along-the edgethereof while still maintaining full pressure throughout'the central portion of the stave whereby the load normally carriediby the stave can be supported.

The staves of Fig. 1 are normally set within'the'backing 11 fairly close together leaving atthe sides thereof a narrow portion 16 of backing material which effectively keys the trapezoidal shaped staves in place. The thickened portions 23 are formed between the portion 16 and the surface 17, the relative location thereof'being selected to provide the appropriate degree of flexibility for the particular ambient lubricant employed. .When the lubricant is non-viscous, as with water, a greater flexibility. is required of the stave portion above the thickened portion than is required where the stave is operatedin a more viscous lubricant.

Fig. 2 illustrates a modification of the stave of Fig. 1 wherein the metal stave element 18 is adapted for securing in a journal surface in the same manner as in Fig. l, or in any other convenient manner. As shown in Fig. 2, the thickened portion of the rubber face material (23 of Fig. 1) has been removed and a soft rubber, insert 23 has been inserted within the cutout portion of the metal base 18. The soft rubber insert 23' ,has; greater resiliency than the rubber material of theface 17, whereby increased reduction of wiping pressure is ,etfectedat the edges of the stave.

While in each of the illustrations both edges ,of the stave are provided with pressure relievingrmeangit .Will be understood that this arises from the necessi y, under some circumstances, to operate the shaft in both directions of rotation, and that if a single ,directionjssufiicient, the pressure relieving means would preferably be supplied only at the leading edge.

It will thus be seen that meanshasbeen provided for relieving leading edge pressure under a rubber,-plastic or other resilient bearing stave sufiicient to increasethe resilience thereof and provide positive (dragging in of lubricant from the leading edge of the, stave across the surface thereof to preventrapid Wear, squeal and other factors adversely affecting bearing performance. On each of the arrangements illustrated, consideration is given to the normal loading of the bearing-stave which results in deflection thereof sufficiently to prevent a sharp wiping edge at the leading edgeof the stave, ,at leastafter the bearing has become worn in. The ,degree of resilience herein described as being achieved by providing athickened portion of rubber face material under the leading edge, or by inserting a more resilient stripmaterial thereunder, is limited to a few thousandths of aninchor less, since this provides an adequate pressure relief whereby lubricant is forced into the bearingallalong theleading edge of the stave. The constructiondescribed thereby provides longer life for bearings especially of the waterlubricated type and markedly improves the lresistance thereof to a tendency to squeal under conditions of heavy load. For purposes of illustration, the bevelor radius at the leading edge of the .stave is-exaggerated in the drawing. In actual practice, inaccordance with this invention, so long as the thickenedvportion 23 (Fig.1) of the rubber face material or the soft rubber insert .23 (Pig. 2) penetrates the stave appreciably beyond .the

Various modifications are contemplated and may obviously be-resorted to by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as hereinafter defined by the appended claims, only preferred embodiments being disclosed.

What is claimed is:

l. A bearing for supporting a rotatable shaft comprising a journal bearing housing,'a plurality of spaced staves attached to and extending the length of said housing for supporting a shaft adapted to rotate therein, each of said staves comprising ametal backing plate for attachment to said housing and a rubber member attached to said plate, said rubber member having sides and a face adapted for contact by said shaft, a tapered edge joining each of said sides with said face and means for relieving the pressure of said shaft onithe tapered edges, said means comprising a rubber backing extending along said sides but beneath the stave bearing surface of the intersection with the tapered edges of said stave, whereby said'bearing surface at the tapered edges are flexed downwardly by said shaft for preventing the wiping of a lubricant from said shaft when thelatter is placed in rotation while maintaining a curvature inthe face of the rubber member substantially that of the shaft rotatably supported thereby, said metal backing plate being formed with a cutout at each side thereof and said rubber backing including a-strip of relatively soft rubberplaced in each of said cutouts, said strip of relatively softvrubber having greaterelasticity than that of the rubber member.

' 2. A bearing for supporting a rotatable shaft comprising a journal bearing housing, a plurality of spaced longitudinally extending staves attached to-the'inner peripheral portion ofsaid housing for supporting a shaft adapted to rotate therein, each of said staves comprising a metal backing plate having sides and a face secured to said journal bearing housing, a rubber member attached to said plate having sides and a face adapted for contact by said shaft, a beveled edge joining said sides and said face of said rubbermember and pressure re lieving means in the .side portions of said stavefor relieving the pressure on said edges caused by said shaft when the latter is rotated thereby providing accessfor flow of a lubricant across said staves, said pressure relieving means comprises a cutout portion on opposite line of contact of the shaft and leading edge of the stave, 7

a very slight bevel or radius is all that is necessary to prevent the formation of a sharp wipingedgeduringthe wearing-in stage of the-bearing.

ends of said face of said metal backing plate, said.cutout portions extending the length of said plate and being positioned adjacent and inwardly of the sides-thereof, and said rubber member attached to said plate comprising an inverted U-shaped support having thelegs thereof fitting into said cutout portions, whereby the pressure of said shaft is relieved along the edges of said rubber member by virtue of the additional. amount ofrubber in said legs of said U-shaped support whilemaintaininga curvature in theface of the rubber membersubstantially that of the shaft rotatably supported thereby, said legs of the U-shaped support fitting into said cutout portions being formed of relatively soft rubber, which softrubber has greater elasticity than that of theremainder of the rubber member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Germany Jan. 22, 1925 

